


Fear the Fear

by GenuineSnoof



Category: X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Charles and Logan have been caught by the same mean Bad Guys, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Poor Charles, Post-X-Men: Days of Future Past, Protective Erik, inspired by "Logan", well kinda but Erik stayed at the school
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-15
Updated: 2017-05-15
Packaged: 2018-11-01 05:04:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10914894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenuineSnoof/pseuds/GenuineSnoof
Summary: Charles has been captured by Weapon X along with Logan after "DOFP". After Erik finds them and brings them both home to the school, Charles still has Trouble dealing with the trauma that's been inflicted on him.





	Fear the Fear

**Author's Note:**

> After watching "Logan", I just couldn't resist. :) 
> 
> I know the timeline is all fucked up, but oh well. Logan and Chuck are cute together and obv I wanted protective!Erik in it, so just imagine if you will that DOFP ended with Erik and Charles smooching and then Logan went his way to get captured and adamantiumised. 
> 
> Hope you'll enjoy it despite the liberties I've taken with canon.

The way that poor kid he had sent to use Cerebro had crumbled right after finding Charles hadn't looked healthy. Obviously it wasn't as 'easy peasy' as Charles always made it out to be, finding mutants.

Then again, the boy was 10 and before being introduced to Cerebro had only been able to read people's feelings, not even their thoughts. Let alone communicate with them. 

Raven hadn't been pleased. All "stay away from the children, Erik!" and "there would've been another way, Erik!" and glaring and hugging the dazed boy to herself as if Erik had been trying to drag him over to the dark side or something. Hell, if Charles' usual reaction was anything to go by, the kid had probably enjoyed the power surge. If Cerebro was enough to make Charles still feel a little high after all this time, bouncy little Roderick was probably craving his next hit by now. And the nosebleed had stopped almost instantly, too.

He hadn't been able to say much about the condition Charles was in, just ,"He feels... confused?", but it had been quite an achievement for the kid to even find Charles, since he was quite a way away from Westchester. Thank God he wasn't in Siberia or Indonesia. Erik doubted Roderick's skills would've reached quite that far even with Cerebro's help.

"We're closing in on his position," Hank said from the passenger seat, looking up from his little device he had built to get them to the coordinates provided by Cerebro. It looked like a miniature radar and Erik hadn't looked, yet, but was half expecting the beeping light that indicated Charles' position to be Charles-shaped. 

"There's nothing here," he said. "Maybe he's underground."

There was indeed a whole lot of empty space ahead, between the mountains. A slender river ran through the valley, but looked to be dying soon. The ground was dusty and dry. 

"On top of that hill," Hank said, pointing. There were a few brushes and trees but no buildings far as Erik could see. If Charles had been here the whole four weeks he'd been missing... 

When Roderick had found Charles for them, they'd at least known he was still alive, but "confused" could of course mean anything from slightly befuddled (and if it was just that why hadn't he tried to find his way home?) to half dead. 

Four weeks were a long enough time to make Erik resort to talking 10-y/os into using Cerebro to find Charles after everything else had failed. All of his old contacts had been called, all the humans he knew about who would want their hands on a telepath had been visited, Raven and Erik had even flown to England to search the places of Charles' youth in case he'd just lost his mind. All to no avail. 

He should have used Cerebro a lot earlier, Erik thought now, looking at the thick bushes up and ahead of them. And he would have if Hank or Raven had told him earlier that little Roderick was in fact more than just an empath, or so Charles had suspected before he'd gone on his trip to that blasted library down South not to return. 

They drove up the hill and turned right when Erik spotted an old broken trailer and a pick-up van next to it. 

"Hank."

"I see it. That's it."

"Really?" Erik leaned over to look at Hank's little device and almost crashed the car when a loud yelp echoed through the valley and a pair of boots appeared in front of the windscreen. 

"Holy shit!" Hank yelled.

Erik quickly stepped on the brakes and instinctively backed into his seat when the man who'd jumped onto the hood, bent forward and scratched long metal claws along the windshield.

"What the fuck? Logan?" 

"It's not our Logan," Hank muttered.

Erik frowned at him and opened the door to step out. "Lo-"

Instantly, Logan jumped off the hood to corner Erik against the car. He was growling like some sort of wild animal and glared at him with almost violent hate. 

Erik froze against the car, confused. It had only been a few years since they'd parted from Logan, but he acted like he didn't recognise Erik at all. And something else was different. Erik could feel metal... inside Logan. Everywhere. It was around the claws pointed at him, too. 

"What..." He tested it, gently, then when he saw the sudden confusion melt into terror on Logan's face, stopped. "My god, what happened to you?"

Logan growled, ducking his head as if ready to jump. 

"This isn't our Logan," Hank said from where he was very slowly and carefully getting out of the car. "It is, but not yet."

Logan turned and tilted his head slightly. His frown deepened when he saw Hank and he took a step towards him. "You," he growled out.

Hank visibly swallowed. "I'm Hank McCoy. Hi," he added after an awkward pause.

"I know you," Logan said and looked back at Erik. "I know you, too. I saw you."

Erik just couldn't resist. He lifted his palm sligthtly and sent Logan floating a bit. A rather undignified squeak escaped Logan.

"Shit! What're you doing!"

Erik stared. "This is amazing. What are you, what's been done to you? You're all... metal." He turned Logan slightly, then dropped him to the ground again. 

Logan glared at him. "That wasn't necessary. I don't remember you, but we were good, sorta? Weren't we?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Erik asked. "It's me, Erik. Why wouldn't you remember me?"

"He hasn't met us, yet," Hank said and at Erik's look explained, "This is present day Logan, Erik. We left him so as not to mess with the timeline, remember? "Our" Logan was from the future."

Erik stared, then stared at Logan. "Oh."

Logan in return was looking at Hank as if he'd just declared the sun to be a cheese instead of the moon. "What's that?"

"So you don't know us," Erik said, "but you saw us... in Charles' mind? Charles is here with you?"

Logan nodded. "I got us out. Charlie's pretty beat, but he's hanging in there. What do you mean, from the future? I thought I had met you before and forgot."

"Didn't Charles explain it to you?" Hank asked at the same time Erik said, "Where is he?" and headed for the trailer.

"Most of the time he's not in an explaining mood," Logan said, following Erik.

Charles was asleep on one of the beds in the back, covered by two blankets. He looked gaunt and sick, curled up on himself, hugging a pillow to his chest.

Erik sat down next to him, frowning. He reached out and brushed the hair out of Charles' face. He was pale, a fading bruise covering most of the right side of his face. "What happened to him?" Erik asked, turning to look at Logan. "What happened to you? Why's your skeleton covered in metal?"

Hank widened his eyes, staring at Logan. It was obvious fear alone was keeping him from touching Logan's arm.

"There's people trying to turn... folks like us into a weapon," Logan said. "They did with me, tried with him."

Erik lowered his gaze to Charles, carefully stroking his hair. Charles was dangerous, but he'd die before becoming a weapon. 

"Folks like us?" Hank asked. "Mutants, you mean?"

"His word," Logan said, nodding at Charles. "I heard it in his mind. I saw you two meeting me there...felt like it was happening at the time. He's a telepath they said. I saw his memories, I guess, and I thought I'd just forgot. Saw myself but couldn't remember."

"No, you couldn't have," Hank said. "You didn't meet us, it's rather complicated."

Logan snorted. "Figures. 'Rather complicated' is what he is."

Erik frowned. "Didn't he tell you?"

"Don't talk much."

Erik's gaze wandered over the little nightstand-table between the two beds and darkened. "Maybe because you keep him drugged up? What's this?" He picked up a bottle. "Haldol?"

"It's the only stuff heavy enough to keep him quiet."

"Why does he need to be quiet?" Erik asked angrily.

"Just wait five minutes and you'll see," Logan said, lightning a cigarette. "I really thought I had met you guys before they got me," he said wistfully. "No new memories, then. Woulda been too nice to ask for."

Erik glowered at him for dodging the question, then frowned suddenly, when a light stabbing started behind his forehead. It quickly spread to his whole head. Not bad, but uncomfortable. He looked at Hank.

"You feel that?"

Hank nodded. "Charles."

Absently stroking Charles' head, Erik turned to Logan again. "This is why you keep him drugged?"

Logan laughed drily. "No, bub. This is what it's like all the time. Hardly notice it anymore. When he wakes up, it gets worse. Twice now, he's had seizures, dropped me out cold outside for hours."

"Oh Charles," Erik muttered. "Who did this?" he asked out loud.

"Same folks turned me into a Floating Device for your amusement," Logan growled. "Don't know their names, I only know I'm away from them and so is Chuck."

Erik would have smiled at the hated nickname, but he was too concerned now, looking at Charles all huddled up, hurting enough to project even asleep and heavily drugged.

"You can't just hide out here forever," he said. "What have you two even been eating? How long you been here?"

"Was waiting for him to get better," Logan said. He suddenly sat on the bed opposed to Charles' and sighed. "They really messed him up. This is nothing. When he's awake he has nightmares."

Hank hugged himself, standing awkwardly between them as Erik continued to stroke Charles' face. "He hasn't been gone that long."

"You'd be surprised how much torture fits into a day, kid," Logan said.

Erik winced. 

"I know what he means to you," Logan said, waiting for Erik to look at him, then smiled grimly. "I tried not to peek. I don't know how much of him is left. I saw the memories he clung to mostly and you were in them, so maybe waking up to you really being there will help him with the rest, I don't know."

"What causes the headaches?" Hank asked.

"Hell if I know. Conditioning? Maybe they implanted something like they did with me, I don't know."

Hank frowned. "But you thought it best to keep him drugged for your own comfort instead of finding out?"

"I thought he was gonna kill everyone driving by within a ten-mile range, kid," Logan growled. "For all I know he killed me when he had the seizures. He's dangerous, I didn't think I'd have to tell you that."

"You don't," Erik said, shooting Hank a quick glance. "You did what you thought was best for him and I thank you for that. We'll stay here till he wakes a little bit. I'll try talking to him."

"He'll like that," Logan said. "I think."

Erik nodded, turning to Charles again and drawing the comforter Charles was covered with a bit higher up his shoulder. 

"How did they do that?" Hank asked Logan, gesturing at him. "With the metal."

Logan walked over to a little fridge stuck under the workplate with a makeshift sink on it and got out a beer. He raised his eyes at Hank and Erik; both declined. He opened the can and took a sip, before replying, "I heal fast."

Hank looked like hemight be sick as the meaning sunk in. He nodded timidly and resumed hugging himself.

Erik's hand still rested on Charles' shoulder, feeling the bonyness of it. He briefly lifted the blankets and grimaced.

"Can't keep much down," Logan said. He was leaning against the half closed slide door seperating the beds from the seating area and table, sipping his beer. "They didn't have much experience with telepaths. Kept him in a secure cell that he couldn't reach out of. He told me later. Only, after a while, every time they came in to drag him out or get him food or water, he knocked them out with the headaches, so for a while they didn't enter at all."

Erik drew in a deep breath, his grip on Charles' shoulder tightening. 

"Eventually they figured out to have a sniper ready and tranq him the moment they opened the door."

Charles emitted a tiny whimper and Erik flinched, tearing his hand away as if he'd slapped Charles. 

Logan looked from one to the other and took another sip. 

After checking that Charles had just reacted to his shoulder being squeezed and not woken up, Erik turned to Logan again. "How was he supposed to become a weapon, if they just let him starve in a room that inhibited his powers?"

"Gotta ask them, bub," Logan said, "but you haven't felt what it's like when he's awake."

"Yes, but that can't have been their intention," Hank said.

"No, they probably asked nicely first," Logan said, finishing his beer. 

Erik closed his eyes briefly and was surprised to find Charles looking at him when he opened them again.

"Charles."

The headache spiked a little; Erik could hear Hank hiss behind him.

Charles lay still, just his eyes following Erik's movements as he bent over him, smiling assuringly. 

"We're here, Charles. Hank and I. We found you."

"Logan," Charles said quietly.

"Here, kid," Logan said, leaning a little forward to be more in Charles' line of vision. "They're real, I see them, too."

"You would," Charles said. 

"I saw them when you were asleep."

Charles seemed to consider that. "Still."

Logan snorted. "You want me to pinch them? They're real. Came to take you home."

Eyes wide, Charles stared back at Erik and scrambled away, trying to sit up. Erik reached out to help him. "I can't go home! I can't go... I'm dangerous, Erik! Erik..." He looked at Erik's hand on his arm, his scared grimace softening into a sad frown. 

"I'm really here, Charles," Erik said, bending his head a little to look Charles in the eye. "And we're taking you home. Hank will figure out what the problem is and we'll help you get better."

Charles shook his head, his eyes filling with tears. He sniffed. "I can't," he said, ending in a choked squeak. "Erik... I think I killed people." He blinked; a fear tears ran down his face. Erik wiped them away. 

"Even if you did, and you don't know that, they deserved it." He looked at Logan over his shoulder.

Logan nodded, arms crossed in front of him. "He dropped a few of them when we escaped."

"I killed them," Charles sid sadly, more tears running down his face.

The headache was getting stronger. Hank was rubbing his forehead.

"I didn't stop to check," Logan said, "but listen to your man here, they sure as hell deserved it."

Charles buried his head in his hands. "I'm gonna kill you all, I'm dangerous, my head-"

"Shh," Erik hushed him and drew him into a gentle embrace. He ran his hand over the back of Charles' head, cradling him against himself. "We'll help you. You'll be fine."

Charles shook his head. "No, I don't know how to stop it." He was crying in earnest now, sobbing broken bits of sentences against Erik's shoulder. "My head... can't stop... can't go anywhere... can't stop."

Erik just held him, petting his hair. When the headache became a continued stabbing that threatened to blurr his vision, he looked at Logan questioningly. 

Logan sighed deeply, scratching his temple. He pushed himself off the door, heading for the nightstand where the bottle of pills stood.

Erik shook his head. "No, wait."

"It's only gonna get worse."

"No, I have an idea. Wait. Charles?" Erik pushed Charles away a little to look at him. Charles was sniffing weakly by now, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain. Erik winced as a particularly strong wave hit them. Hank looked ready to pass out. "I'll be right back," Erik gently lowered Charles to the bed where he immediately curled up into as small a ball as he could.

Erik hurried towards the door, ignoring Hank's and Logan' questioning looks and ran to their car. When he returned, he held out his helmet he'd grabbed from inside the car. 

Hank nodded, his eyes squeezed to small slits and perspiraton showing on his face. "Should've thought of it earlier," he muttered.

Erik sat down next to Charles again. "Charles? Can you sit up for a moment?"

Charles whimpered, but didn't move, so Erik carefully lifted his upper body and put the helmet on his head. It caught his hair so half his face was hidden, but Charles was beyond caring, anyway.

The headache immideately stopped.

For them, anyway.

"What is that?" Logan asked.

Holding Charles against him, Erik sighed. "It's what they probably wished they'd had. Keeps telepaths out of your head." He looked at Charles, whose eyes had fallen shut, and slightly adjusted the helmet. "Doesn't help him, though."

"We can move him now," Hank said, taking a deep breath and shaking his head as if to clear it. "I can check on him back at the school. If they really did implant something, hopefully we'll be able to remove it."

"He just makes you feel like everyting's gonna be okey-doke, huh?" Logan said, poiting his thumb at Hank.

"Tell me about it." Erik was scopping Charles up into his arms. "Let's get you home," he muttered under his breath. "You coming with us?" he asked Logan.

"To your school?"

"He told you about that?"

Logan shrugged. "He showed me everything."

Erik hesitated. "So you knew where he lived."

"He was scared of hurting anyone. Rightly so," Logan added gravely. 

Erik thought Logan couldn't have kept Charles like this forever, eventually he would've had to do somthing, but he didn't want to hear what Charles had most likely suggested already and so just walked past Logan to their car. "You should come," he said. "There's always room for another mutant."

Logan studied their car as if his decision was connected to it. "I'll get beer for the ride," he said eventually and turned for the trailer.

"You drive," Erik told Hank, throwing him the keys. "I'll be in the back with Charles." He gently put Charles on the back seat and climbed in after him, lifting Charles' head so it could rest on his thigh. 

Charles was muttering, his eyes moving under closed lids. Erik gently squeezes his shoulder. "It's all right, Schnuppchen," he whispered calmingly. "We're going home. You'll be all right."

Hank sat in the driver's seat and once Logan had returned with a smal bag and a six pack of beer, he started the engine. 

"It'll be okay," Erik muttered at Charles. "You'll be fine."

**Author's Note:**

> I'll be gone for a week and plan on posting the rest then. Shouldn't get too long, I think, just all the aww!Charles and some schnuggling. Suggestions welcome, though. :)


End file.
